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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29576469">Game Morning In Argus</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam'>Kiiratam</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Game Nights at Beacon Academy &amp; Beyond [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY, Warhammer 40.000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Background Relationships, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:27:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29576469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Team JNR undergoes mandatory relaxation time, under orders from Saphron Cotta-Arc.</p>
<p>Takes place during Volume 6, Chapter 7 (<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/19983040">My BMBLB fic index</a>).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Saphron Cotta-Arc/Terra Cotta-Arc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Game Nights at Beacon Academy &amp; Beyond [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1482323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Game Morning In Argus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So what did you kids want to play?" Saphron lifted her son out of his high chair, and turned to face the <em>other</em> kids.</p>
<p><br/>Jaune looked slightly pained. "'Kids?'"</p>
<p><br/>"Come on, Jauney, I gotta practice for Adrian! I've got big sis teasing down, but I wanna be good at <em>mom</em> teasing."</p>
<p><br/>"Is that something you have to practice?" Nora asked, through her final mouthful of pancakes.</p>
<p><br/>Stacking all of the breakfast plates up, Ren answered, "Everything can be practiced." He whisked Nora's plate away last - before she could contrive anything with her fork and the last of the syrup.</p>
<p><br/>"Well, yeah, but do you <em>have</em> to? I though it just came with momness."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron bounced Adrian - not because he was upset, just to keep him involved. "Haven't heard an answer yet!"</p>
<p><br/>Looking up from his open scroll, Jaune asked, "Can't we just-" </p>
<p><br/>"Nope! No sitting around. We're going to stay busy, and your friends will be here before you know it."</p>
<p><br/>Ren nodded in approval, and carried off the dishes to the kitchen.</p>
<p><br/>"Good plan! What've you got?" Nora bounced up from her chair, and Adrian laughed and clapped.</p>
<p><br/>"Tons! Has Jaune corrupted you into TABARZIN-"</p>
<p><br/>"Nope!" Nora grinned. "Already corrupted. He said you played the Order?"</p>
<p><br/>"'Played?' Jaune, what lies are you feeding to your team-mates?"</p>
<p><br/>"But-"</p>
<p><br/>"I did not <em>play</em> the Order. I <strong>rocked</strong> the Order like avocado on toast. I made grown men cry because I <strong>demolished</strong> them. I was made a <strong>saint</strong> of butt-kicking." Saphron glanced around. "I've still got the certificate somewhere."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune sighed. "-yeah, that." He rolled his scroll up and put it away.</p>
<p><br/>Nora's eyes were alight. "I'm in! I don't really have my army - I mean, I have a few vorpalwights in my bag, but I never really-"</p>
<p><br/>"I'd love to see them. But I don't actually have my army anymore."</p>
<p><br/>"What? ...But the butt-kicking?" Nora was still hopeful.</p>
<p><br/>"I know, I know." Saphron shrugged, and went on, "But it wasn't really <em>my</em> army, it was the Arc family army. Eight allowances."</p>
<p><br/>"Oh."</p>
<p><br/>"And they don't exactly travel well, and I was trying to move light - there were a lot of factors."</p>
<p><br/>"Sis, you really didn't keep <em>anything</em>?"</p>
<p><br/>Saphron paused, thinking. "I think I've got my Ultra-Virgin Abbess."</p>
<p><br/>"'Ultra-Virgin?'" Nora tilted her head. "Was she an olive oil?"</p>
<p><br/>Jaune started to sink down into his chair.</p>
<p><br/>Laughing, with Adrian mimicking her, Saphron said, "No, she just had a whole unit of AT-Ursai shoot at her, and didn't take a single wound. Which is when my cute little kid brother-" Jaune sunk lower. "-shouted at the top of his lungs, into a completely silent convention hall, 'she's ultra-unimpregnatable!'"</p>
<p><br/>Nora snorted. "Wow, Jaune, you should tell that one to Ruby."</p>
<p><br/>"Just kill me now."</p>
<p><br/>"Aww, does my widdle brother have a <em>crush</em>?"</p>
<p><br/>"No!"</p>
<p><br/>Ren returned. "What game were we playing?"</p>
<p><br/>"Not TABARZIN 20,000." Nora sighed.</p>
<p><br/>"Maybe. I got distracted by my brother's love life." Before Jaune could register more of a complaint, Saphron went on, "I've got a bunch of the spin-off games, and I'd love to actually get to play some of them. Terra doesn't play, and this one," she bounced Adrian, "Isn't quite old enough to make strategic decisions."</p>
<p><br/>"You can't get your wife to play at all?" Nora looked concerned. "Ren won't play tabletop with us, but we still got him to play Astral Derelict."</p>
<p><br/>Ren nodded.</p>
<p><br/>"Oh no, she plays, just not TABARZIN stuff. She's more of a mechanics-focused person. Less narrative. Anyway, I've got Astral Derelict, but I don't know if it's better than the video game. Go get your uncle." She set Adrian down, and he toddled over to Jaune with a big grin.</p>
<p><br/>"Hi." Jaune picked up his nephew, who seemed fascinated by Jaune's breastplate.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron started counting off on her fingers. "So, Astral Derelict, there's the Vorpalwight planetary subversion game - Cultwright - a couple of different Duel-Axes battles, and Coventry Defense."</p>
<p><br/>Ren sat back down, quirking his head. "Duel-Axes?"</p>
<p><br/>"It's basically historical battles that are too big for the regular system. At least without taking out a mortgage. So it's a hex-and-counter game, and one counter is a platoon, at least. It's usually just two player, but we can fix that."</p>
<p><br/>Grinning, Nora said, "We can just mash them together! Oh no, the defense of Lidda Castle has been time-rifted into being right next to the Caine's Salient!"</p>
<p><br/>Saphron nodded. "Something like that. Oh, and I do have Sector Fleet Deku, but we'd have to have fleet admirals and rear admirals, since the starter box is two player."</p>
<p><br/>"<em>I</em> don't want to be on the opposite side from you." Jaune make pinching motions at his nephew's mouth. "No licking!"</p>
<p><br/>Adrian covered his mouth.</p>
<p><br/>Nora stretched her arms out over her head, her back and neck popping. "Hey, what was the last game you said?"</p>
<p><br/>"Coventry Defense? It's a co-op defense game. Horde of Mantellians - you know, the four-armed red slime molds - versus a tiny Order convent."</p>
<p><br/>"Sounds like fun! You could break out your Ultra Virgin Abbess and show us how the Order kicks butt!"</p>
<p><br/>"Ren, Jaune?" Saphron looked at them. "What do you think?"</p>
<p><br/>"Huh?" Jaune tried to look up, but Adrian was holding onto his ears.</p>
<p><br/>"You'll love it. What about you, Ren?"</p>
<p><br/>He nodded.</p>
<p><br/>"Great! I'll grab my Ultra Virgin - she's in the office. Adrian, can you show everyone where we keep mommy's games?"</p>
<p><br/>Tugging on Jaune's bangs, Adrian pointed the way.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>They had set up on the floor next to Adrian's play space - mainly because Adrian had wanted to show his uncle <em>all</em> of his toys. </p>
<p><br/>His arms full of doodads,whatsits,and various thingamabobs, Jaune looked helplessly at his sister as Adrian brought him another toy.</p>
<p><br/>"Oh no! He's all out of room!" Saphron turned up her hands. "What are you going to do, Adrian?"</p>
<p><br/>Frowning, Adrian sat down, thinking.</p>
<p><br/>Nora was digging through the box. "So who's playing who? We've got, uh," she flipped through a stack of character boards, "The Mother-Superior, The Instructrix, The Technolatress, The Vivaratrix, The Anchorite, The Precocious Novice, and The Visitor. I guess it's the Ultra-Virgin Mother-Superior?" Nora offered Saphron the board.</p>
<p><br/>"Oh, I'm sure I can use any of them. Why don't you three pick first?"</p>
<p><br/>Adrian was starting to empty Jaune's arms of toys, so Nora turned to Ren. "Who do you want?"</p>
<p><br/>He leaned over to read over Nora's shoulder. After a moment, he said, "The Anchorite. She seems to have the most mobility."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron looked up from the rules. "You're going to need it! You start right in front of the Mantellians."</p>
<p><br/>Ren bent over the board, found his character's starting position at the edge of the board, and placed his skinny figurine there. He started reading the character board Nora handed him.</p>
<p><br/>Fanning out the options, Nora held them out for Jaune to examine across the board. "Who did you want?"</p>
<p><br/>"Uhhh... the Visitor? Holo-scimitars are cool."</p>
<p><br/>Nora passed him his character. </p>
<p><br/>Ren tapped the board. "Visitor's dormitory."</p>
<p><br/>"That makes sense." Jaune put his robed miniature down, and glanced over at his sister. "That's... a lot of Mantellians, Saph."</p>
<p><br/>"Relax! They're not all showing up at once." She kept sticking cardboard cut-outs of red aliens into stands. "At least, not for the first wave."</p>
<p><br/>Nora waved one of the boards around. "I'm going to be the Instructrix! No one's got a hammer, but she's got a staff, which is basically a hammer, especially with all the grav-Dust on the ends."</p>
<p><br/>"Classroom." Ren pointed.</p>
<p><br/>"Thanks!" Nora put her powerfully-built figurine on the board, and asked, "Saphron?"</p>
<p><br/>"I think I'm actually going to be the Novice. She's got the most flexibility. We can just pretend that this is the Ultra Virgin Abbess' origin story."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron set her figure down in the classroom, next to Nora's. "What's up, teach?"</p>
<p><br/>"Oh, the <em>disrespect</em> of children nowadays! Back in my day, we would have been thrown into the iron maiden for such language! Penance, penance, penance, my child!" Nora couldn't make it all the way through her pontifications with a straight face.</p>
<p><br/>Adrian laughed, and changed directions, bringing the new toy to Nora - with only a slight diversion from his mother so he went <em>around</em> the game board instead of over it.</p>
<p><br/>"Alright, so-" Jaune set aside the few toys that Adrian hadn't retrieved, and unrolled his scroll. "How do we play?"</p>
<p><br/>"Well, we're not done with the set-up yet." Saphron kept reading the rules. "Nora, grab the Relic cards - the ones with the skull icon on back. Give them a shuffle, and all the rooms - those are the ones with a gold border - get at least one card. It should say on the board how many Relics each room gets. The first one is face-up, all the rest are face-down."</p>
<p><br/>Nora roughly shuffled the cards together. "Ren, you read, I deal?"</p>
<p><br/>"Of course."</p>
<p><br/>While the two of them managed that, Saphron handed her brother another stack of cards. "And those are the Inhabitant cards. One for every room, face-down, except for the rooms we're in, which are face-up."</p>
<p><br/>"Got it."</p>
<p><br/>Adrian set his little stuffed goat next to Nora, watching what she was doing.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron asked, "Sweetie, do you want to help?"</p>
<p><br/>He nodded at his mother.</p>
<p><br/>"Give one of these to everyone." She handed him a handful of little metal tokens, emblazoned with the trefoil flower of the Order. "And put the rest back here in the box."</p>
<p><br/>Adrian set off on his mission with a determined expression.</p>
<p>Saphron explained, "So your character board has a sliding scale up top, whether you're focusing on Fighting and Fortification, or Moving. Pick a position; at the start of every turn, you can move your token one space. If you need to fight, you'll want more in Fighting and Fortification. And if you want to run around picking up Relics and saving Inhabitants, you'll want more Move. Make sense?" General nodding (including Adrian). She read a bit more. "My character, the Novice, is the flexible one, so she can adjust her token two spaces per turn, instead of one. We've all got some special rules, but those should be on your board, along with your Life total and Weapon Skills &amp; Strength. Combat works pretty much like the wargame." Saphron paused. "Ren, did you want me to explain that?"</p>
<p><br/>He shook his head. "I'll follow along. One of you should get into combat before I do."</p>
<p><br/>Nora leaned into him. "They <em>are</em> closest to you."</p>
<p><br/>"I will begin by disengaging."</p>
<p><br/>Adrian finished distributing tokens, and dumped the rest of them into the box with a clatter.</p>
<p><br/>"Good job!" Saphron mussed his hair, and handed him a bag of dice. "Can you give everyone five dice?" She counted on her fingers, "One, two, three, four, five."</p>
<p><br/>After some hesitation, Adrian nodded and started slowly counting out dice.</p>
<p><br/>"So Ren, you should probably regroup with the rest of us. We should hold the nave and the-" Jaune stopped. "Uh, sorry. Team leader mode." He glanced at his scroll, and put it away.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron laughed. "Awww, my little brother's all grown up and in charge!"</p>
<p><br/>"Hey, I never <em>asked</em> to be team leader-"</p>
<p><br/>Nora jumped in. "But you're good at it!"</p>
<p><br/>Ren added, "It does come naturally to you."</p>
<p><br/>"Uh, thanks guys. But, what I mean is, we can actually talk out our strategy. We don't have to just work on my instincts. I want to know what the rest of you think we should do. Like one of Ruby's team-building exercises. Thanks, Adrian." Jaune took his handful of dice.</p>
<p><br/>With a grin, Saphron said, "Well I think we should charge them! Take the fight to those slimes!"</p>
<p><br/>Jaune sighed. "After careful thought, I will be rejecting all plans that are stupid."</p>
<p><br/>"It's unexpected!"</p>
<p><br/>"Stupid."</p>
<p><br/>"Unorthodox!"</p>
<p><br/>"Still stupid."</p>
<p><br/>"Jaune!"</p>
<p><br/>"Stupid."</p>
<p><br/>"Ha!" Saphron grinned at her brother. "Gotcha."</p>
<p><br/>"Hey!"</p>
<p><br/>As they squabbled, Ren accepted his dice from Adrian and held up a hand to stop him from moving on to Nora. "Only four."</p>
<p><br/>Adrian tilted his head.</p>
<p><br/>Ren held out the dice in the palm on his hand, and counted them. "One. Two. Three. Four. Do you have another die?" </p>
<p><br/>After a moment, Adrian passed him one.</p>
<p><br/>"Thank you." Looking over the board, Ren pondered.</p>
<p><br/>Nora screwed up her face. "I know you were joking, Saphron, but it's not like, the worst idea."</p>
<p><br/>"Traitor." Jaune told her, good-naturedly.</p>
<p><br/>"No, really! The classroom is right by Ren, and me and Saphron can go hammer the Mantellians before they start moving. That way, Ren and you can spend all of your turns picking up relics and rescuing people. We can pick a spot to defend after that."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune looked at the board, thinking.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron laughed, "Oh, I get it. When <em>I</em> say it, it's stupid, but when <em>Nora</em> says it, you actually pay attention. That's brotherly love for you."</p>
<p><br/>"Thanks, munchkin!" Nora mussed up Adrian's hair, and set her handful of dice down.</p>
<p><br/>Ren spoke up. "One of us should go to the Reliquary immediately. There's a jetpack there that will greatly improve mobility."</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah, we should really read everything <em>before</em> we start planning our strategy." Jaune took his own advice, looking closer at the cards on the board.</p>
<p><br/>Sighing, Nora leaned back on her hands. "Can I at least smash the closest Mantellians?"</p>
<p><br/>"Uh, probably? ...that can't be right." Screwing up his face, Jaune picked up a card. "'Once per turn, when you die-'"</p>
<p><br/>"The relic's literally called 'Brazier of Eternal Recurrence', Jaune." Saphron pulled her son onto her lap. "Okay, Nora, let's get this slime smashing operation going. First, move to a zone with a Mantellian presence-"</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>"Argh, <em>seriously</em>?" Nora glared down at her dice. "I literally cannot kill this stupid grub. Ren, can you come rescue me?"</p>
<p><br/>"Of course." He moved his figure, rolled an attack, and removed the tiny Mantellian from the board.</p>
<p><br/>"Great! Can you save me from my dice next? " Nora poked at the little plastic cubes.</p>
<p><br/>"Me first." Jaune was leaning back from the gameboard, glancing over at Adrian's block fortress.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron just shook her head. "You two are <em>terrible</em> at this."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune started making indignant fraternal noises, while Nora sadly nodded.</p>
<p><br/>"Not the game, the dice. Look at Ren. He's not poking his dice, or making mopey faces about them. He rolls when he needs to, and they cooperate. But you two..."</p>
<p><br/>Mollified, Jaune said, "Yeah, I used to have a dice prison, but it never worked."</p>
<p><br/>"Was the point of dice prison punishment or rehabilitation?" Saphron shifted Adrian in her lap.</p>
<p><br/>"Uhhh..."</p>
<p><br/>"Did you keep records of offenders, or was it all ad hoc and willy-nilly? Dice can tell when you're being arbitrary."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune rolled his eyes. "Okay, so - Nora, now that the grub is dead, can we hold the narthex, or should we fall back?"</p>
<p><br/>"It's kind of exposed. I'll fall back and fortify the church with my novices."</p>
<p><br/>"Okay, good plan. Ren?"</p>
<p><br/>Ren looked down at his character board and pile of cards. "I'm going to transfer some relics and personnel to Nora."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron cut in, "It's one card transferred per point of movement spent."</p>
<p><br/>He nodded, and picked up his cards.</p>
<p><br/>"Don't forget that you're our flying squad. Uh, literally, with that jetpack." Jaune went on. "Keep your fight rating high. Saph?"</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah, yeah, I'm fighting. Should be fine." She made a few quick rolls. "They're probably not breaking through the fortifications this round."</p>
<p><br/>"<em>This</em> round?" Jaune took a survey of the enemy forces in the area. They were encroaching in from every edge of the board now, and another wave was headed towards Saphron and the classroom.</p>
<p><br/>"Next round, I make no promises. But this is a <em>really</em> good position, so if you could help me hold it..."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune frowned. "There's still two unrevealed Inhabitant cards in the infirmary. I really need to go grab them."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron rolled her eyes. "I <em>guess</em> you can be all heroic, Mr. Holo-scimitar. Go rescue the injured, and get a cute nurse to swoon into your arms, or something."</p>
<p><br/>"Can't they wait until <em>after</em> the fighting?" Jaune grumbled, as he moved his miniature.</p>
<p><br/>"Right, Huntsman. Calm in the face of danger required." Saphron glanced at Ren and Nora, still figuring out the redistribution of cards, and leaned a little closer to her brother. "Ruby was a cute brunette in the red cloak, right?"</p>
<p><br/>"What? Oh, yeah." He flipped the two cards over.</p>
<p><br/>"So you <em>do</em> think she's cute."</p>
<p><br/>Nora looked up. "Who's cute? I mean, <em>besides</em> me."</p>
<p><br/>Smugly, Saphron said, "Ruby, according to my brother."</p>
<p><br/>"Oh." Nora looked over to Ren, and hesitantly started, "Um, Saphron-"</p>
<p><br/>Jaune was staring down at the cards he'd flipped over. "Can we <strong>please</strong> just - focus on the game?"</p>
<p><br/>Saphron rolled her eyes, but managed a normal tone of voice. "Sure. Who did you save?"</p>
<p><br/>"It's turn three, right?"</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah. It says so right on the Mantellian threat board. Why does that matter?"</p>
<p><br/>Picking up one of the cards, Jaune read, "'If the Mantellian Sapper is revealed on turn three or later, discard all other Inhabitant cards in the room. It immediately enters combat with whoever reveals it.'" He passed the other card back to his sister. "So I didn't save anyone." He rolled his dice. "And I couldn't even kill the Sapper. So let's get the enemy action going, and see if this stupid thing kills me and makes this entire trip pointless."</p>
<p><br/>Moving Mantellians inwards, Saphron said, "It literally can't kill you in one round by itself. But you should probably scoot back to me, because you're <em>super</em> exposed out there."</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah," Nora nodded, and pointed at the aliens massing near her character. "And the narthex is about to get swarmed, so we should probably figure out where we're going to fort up. And<em> get there</em>."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron placed a very large Mantellian down on the far corner of the board. "And make a plan for dealing with the Big Boss."</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>Ren moved his miniature into the reliquary. "I think we should fall back."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron nodded, moving her character as well. "That crossfire from the choir loft is rough. But I'm leaving my last two booby traps behind."</p>
<p><br/>"That'll help." Jaune tucked his scroll away. "I'm just gonna throw my final psi-lance at the Big Boss-" He picked up his dice.</p>
<p><br/>"Wait!" Saphron held out her dice. "Please, use some dice I know aren't cursed."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune rolled his eyes. "Saph, seriously?"</p>
<p><br/>"I swear, you didn't used to be this <em>bad</em> with dice."</p>
<p><br/>Nora sighed. "Do it, Jaune."</p>
<p><br/>Looking up at the ceiling, Jaune reached for his sister's dice -</p>
<p><br/>She drew back a bit. "Take and roll, Jaune. No scoffing, no commentary."</p>
<p><br/>He mimed zipping his mouth shut, and took the dice. And rolled.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron scooped up her dice. "Okay, so that's three wounds on the Big Boss. Good job, Jaune."</p>
<p><br/>"And I'm just going to retreat into the reliquary." He moved his miniature. "Nora?"</p>
<p><br/>She picked up her figurine. "I just want to say, I'm more of a fan of the doomed final charge than the doomed last stand."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron cut in, "But you're going to make an exception for us, right? We <em>definitely</em> can't hold with only three of us."</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah, yeah." Nora moved her miniature into the reliquary. "I just wanted to complain first. I don't think this game even <em>has</em> rules for counter-attacking."</p>
<p><br/>Paging through the rulebook, Saphron kept her mouth shut.</p>
<p><br/>Ren spoke up. "I believe we start drawing from the reinforcement deck now? Since we're trapped?"</p>
<p><br/>Saphro set the rulebook down. "Yup! The game ends either when we run out of Mantellians - not likely -" She indicated the swarms on the board. "-Or when we draw a 'Relief Arrives' card. There are a couple of them in that deck, apparently. So who wants to draw?"</p>
<p><br/>Jaune and Nora both pulled faces, and leaned away.</p>
<p><br/>"Riiiight." Saphron turned to Ren. "Do you want to do it, or should we lure Adrian away from his fort?"</p>
<p><br/>Ren took a quick look. "I think he's built it around himself."</p>
<p><br/>"Huh. Looks like." Saphron held the deck out. "Draw away."</p>
<p><br/>Taking the top card, Ren read, "'In Contact: You achieve contact with your reinforcements. Next turn, draw two cards from the reinforcement deck, instead of one.'" He held out the card for everyone else to see.</p>
<p><br/>"Cool." Jaune had his scroll out again. "Good job, Ren."</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah!" Nora switched from sitting to lying on her front, her feet kicking the air behind her. "But we still need to hold <em>this</em> round, so fort up!" She started rolling her dice.</p>
<p><br/>A few minutes passed with only the clatter of dice and the movement of Mantellians - most advancing on the reliquary, but more than a few being removed by the spirited defense of the same.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron shook her head. "The pace really picks up when we don't have anywhere else to go. It's just fortify, fight, and maybe move some cards around. Speaking of-" She held out the reinforcement deck to Ren again.</p>
<p><br/>He drew two more cards. "'No contact' and 'Bombing run.' That one is very wordy. Saphron?"</p>
<p><br/>She scanned the card. "Ummm - it's going to prevent Mantellians from arriving this turn, and throw a bunch of attacks against the ones still outside. Let me just get all those rolled out..."</p>
<p><br/>Nora piped up, "And the other card is what it sounds like?"</p>
<p><br/>Ren nodded. "Exactly. Nothing happens."</p>
<p><br/>"Boring!"</p>
<p><br/>Jaune leaned across the board, looking at Nora's character board. "Aren't you down to one wound?"</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah, but Ren gave me that burning bra card -"</p>
<p><br/>"The brazier." Ren corrected.</p>
<p><br/>"It's funnier if it's a burning bra. Anyway, it brings me back when I die."</p>
<p><br/>Ren went on. "Only once a round."</p>
<p><br/>"They haven't managed to kill me <em>once</em>, so I'm not worried about them doing it <em>twice</em>."</p>
<p><br/>Saphron elbowed her brother. "Hey, help me clear off these guys. The bombing run practically wiped them out. Leave the ones with a red base."</p>
<p><br/>"Killing them all seems a lot more doable now." Nora said, looking at the rapidly emptying board.</p>
<p><br/>"The Boss is still a giant wall of meat, Nora." Saphron paused. "Or slime, I guess? Meat-like slime?"</p>
<p><br/>"Saph, never say those words in combination again."</p>
<p><br/>Looking at her brother's queasy expression, Saphron went on, with a grin, "Meat? Slime? What, don't you want big bowl of ramen and chicken with nice, runny egg oozing all over it? It <em>is</em> almost lunchtime."</p>
<p><br/>"Ugggggh..."</p>
<p><br/>There was a clattering of blocks, and Adrian toddled over with a very serious expression. He was carrying a toy doctor's bag.</p>
<p><br/>"Don't worry, little Jauney, Doctor Adrian will take care of you." Saphron had an enormous grin on as she pressed the remaining Mantellians closer to the reliquary.</p>
<p><br/>"Aaaaaaah." Adrian ordered, pressing a stethoscope to Jaune's knee.</p>
<p><br/>"Where did you get your medical license from?"</p>
<p><br/>"Aaaaaaah." Adrian repeated, insistently.</p>
<p><br/>Jaune gave up. "Aaaaaaah."</p>
<p><br/>After making some thoughtful sounding noises, Adrian started digging around in his medical bag.</p>
<p><br/>"Okay, the Boss is at half health, but he's still got a bunch of minions. And our fortifications are barely there. Strength one." Saphron looked up from the dice. "Did we want to bother with the fortifications, or just go all close combat?"</p>
<p><br/>Ren gestured at the reinforcement deck. "We should play it safe, and just hold out. Being reckless only gives them a chance to kill us."</p>
<p><br/>"I <em>guess</em>." Nora's grin was nibbling at her ears. "But think about all the killing blows we're missing!"</p>
<p><br/>"Nora, this game doesn't even have an experience system. "</p>
<p><br/>"I know, but what if it <em>did</em>?"</p>
<p><br/>Adrian solemnly kissed Jaune's knee, and stuck a bandage on it. He looked up expectantly at his uncle.</p>
<p><br/>"I, uh, feel much better now." Jaune glanced at his sister and half-whispered, "Is that good?"</p>
<p><br/>She nodded, and Adrian, after a final inspection, grabbed his medicine bag and went over to rebuild his fortress.</p>
<p><br/>Nora picked up her dice, shaking them. "I get first whack at whoever breaks through."</p>
<p><br/>"The rest of us should try to rebuilt the defenses." Ren started rolling, and Jaune and Saphron followed his lead.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>"Ha! Bad day to be a slime!" Nora toppled four more enemy stands over.</p>
<p><br/>Clearing the toppled counters from the board, Saphron tossed them back into the box. "Nice work, Nora. Just a few stragglers for the rest of us, and the Boss."</p>
<p><br/>Ren raised a finger. "Still at half health?"</p>
<p><br/>"Three-quarters. It regens over time."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune pulled a face. "What a pain."</p>
<p><br/>Shrugging, Saphron said, "Final boss. What do you expect?"</p>
<p><br/>"A short, victorious war to buoy morale?"</p>
<p><br/>"In <em>TABARZIN</em>? 'The War is Forever' is the game's tagline, Jauney."</p>
<p><br/>Ren picked up his dice. "I'll try to deal with the remaining minions."</p>
<p><br/>"Go for it." Saphron glanced over at her son, almost invisible behind the ramparts of his block fort. "We should probably go out once we finish this game. The fog's probably all burned off, and <em>someone</em> hasn't run around screaming much today."</p>
<p><br/>"I like to save that for after lunch." Nora patted her stomach, grinning.</p>
<p><br/>Saphron leaned back on her hands, matching Nora's smile. "Speaking of lunch, there's a great deli right by the neighborhood park."</p>
<p><br/>"Jaune, have I told you that your sister is <em>awesome</em>?"</p>
<p><br/>Jaune sighed. "Oh, she knows."</p>
<p><br/>"Minions are dead." Ren cleared them from the board.</p>
<p><br/>"That's our cue! Throw whatever you've got left." Saphron sorted through her cards. "Not that I've got anything special left."</p>
<p><br/>Jaune checked his cards and character board. "Me neither."</p>
<p><br/>"Regular attacks then. Let's kick butt."</p>
<p><br/>"Do Mantellians even have-"</p>
<p><br/>"Just roll, Jauney."</p>
<p><br/>They cast their dice.</p>
<p><br/>"Two wounds from me." Jaune nearly frowned at his dice, but Saphron threw a warning look at him. He pulled out his scroll instead.</p>
<p><br/>"And six from me. So the Boss is down to one wound. We just need to survive one more round."</p>
<p><br/>"Oh Gods please." Jaune tapped a button on his scroll and put it to his ear, knuckles white. He stood up and started heading for the front door. "Pick up, pick up."</p>
<p><br/>Everyone else kept quiet, their eyes following Jaune.</p>
<p><br/>From his scroll, "Uh, hello?"</p>
<p><br/>"Ruby! Oh thank you! I've been checking my scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!" Jaune opened the front door and slipped outside.</p>
<p><br/>Nora stretched her arms out over her head. "I guess it's going to be a bigger lunch."</p>
<p><br/>"I guess so!" Saphron pulled out her scroll. "I'll get Terra to swing by the deli, and we can go meet your friends."</p>
<p><br/>"We should get this cleaned up." Ren started gathering up game pieces.</p>
<p><br/>"Yeah." Nora paused, looked at the board. "Kinda anti-climatic, though." She drew the top card off of the reinforcement deck. "Guess it would have ended there anyway." She showed the 'Relief Arrives' card to the other two, the words blazoned over a column of MegaArmy tanks.</p>
<p><br/>"It's definitely an oddly paced game." Saphron typed a message and sent it, and rolled her scroll back up. "Did you two like it?"</p>
<p><br/>Ren nodded. </p>
<p><br/>"It was great!"</p>
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